How Rs 2 coin was used to rob Rajdhani passengers

Four days after the passengers of Rajdhani Express were robbed, a joint police team of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh managed to apprehend five criminals involved in the loot incident. However, the investigating team members were aghast at the modus operandi of the criminals.

The train robbers had used a two rupee coin to change the train signal from green to red, as a result of which New Delhi-Patna Rajdhani Express stopped at Gamhar on Bihar-UP border. As the train stopped, altogether four miscreants boarded the train after one of their accomplices, who was already in the premier train, opened the entrance door.

Explaining how the robbers ‘hacked’ the outer signal of Gamhar station, one of the railway source said, “The miscreants planned to rob Rajdhani passengers in between Mughalsarai (UP) and Buxar (Bihar) in the early hours of April 9. Four criminals waited near the outer signal of Gamhar (small junction) and placed a Rs 2 coin in the gap of two railway tracks before the train was to cross through. This, in turn, changed the signal from green to red.”

Dwelling at length about the ‘scientific method’ used in the crime, the source said, “There are circuits on the tracks close to signal which helps them change to red or green. Each track is of around 13 metres long. There is a small gap between the two metallic tracks. An insulator is used in the gap to break the circuit so that the signal turns green.”

The investigating cops were astonished when the criminals told them that they used a two rupee coin in the track gap ahead of the signal. The train’s metallic wheels acted as the conductor between the gap thereby completing the circuit. This, in turn, helped the signal turn red.

As the driver stopped the train, a gang member, who was already in the Rajdhani Express, opened the doors to facilitate the criminals’ entry. “The gang members spread out and robbed passengers of A-1, B-7 and B-8 bogie. Before escaping under the cover of darkness, each of them distributed the cash, while gold and other ornaments were sold to Krishna Jewellers in Buxar district,” said the source.

The five miscreants had earlier thrown a diamond ring into a dustbin assuming it was an ordinary stone. However, the railway police, on their information, recovered the said diamond from the spot.

“Altogether five persons have been arrested so far. Raids are on to nab others who helped in this train robbery. Besides, some gold ornaments have been also recovered from a jewellery shop,” said a member of the investigating team.